PrintAugust 29, 2008
McCain Campaign Confirms: It's Palin
John McCain has selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate:
U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.
Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.
Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.
In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.
There is much to recommend Sarah Palin - and a few knocks against her.
She is everything the McCain camp says of her - smart, tough, and someone with an unusal integrity for a politician. She will probably draw some Hillary voters (not as many as you might think due to her conservative, pro-life positions on the issues) and almost certainly do well with swing voters. She energizes the entire party and excites the base.
But she also blunts one of McCain's major lines of attack against Obama; that he is too inexperienced to be president. Palin has only been governor for 2 years. And while this is two years more executive experience than Obama, the arguement that she has similiar experience in government to Obama will mean that McCain will have trouble selling one of his major attack themes to the voter.
Then there is the question of the Republican scandals in Alaska. Several GOP elected leaders in the state are either under indictment or about to be charged with crimes relating to payoffs and bribes from a large oil services company called Veco. Palin herself has a special prosecutor on her back:
Even Gov. Sarah Palin, the former beauty contestant elected two years ago on a reform slate, spent July navigating her first scandal. A special prosecutor will determine whether Palin pushed to punish her sister's ex-husband, a state trooper whose established sins include moose poaching and shooting his 11-year-old stepson with a Taser.
Finally, there is the theme - something that will be fanned by Obama's team - that Palin is an "affirmative action" choice and that the Republicans are simply pandering to women.
That last will probably have not much resonance but will give some Hillary supporters a reason not to vote for her.
But all of that aside, Palin will be the star of the convention - whenever it starts. The McCain team is watching Hurricane Gustav closely and if it is a serious tragedy, they could postpone the convention. Even that unlikely occurrence will not dampen the rank and file's enthusiasm for Mrs. Palin.
Some background on Palin here.
